Pans for use with paint rollers have been employed for many years. The simplest of such pans are in the form of a deck which is at an angle to horizontal when in normal use and surrounded by side walls to form a pan that is deeper at one end than at the other. The deep end of the pan provides a small reservoir for paint, while the shallow end of the pan is used to distribute the paint on the roller. Paint is moved from the reservoir to the deck of the pan by dipping the roller into the reservoir and then rolling it back and forth across the deck to distribute the paint evenly on the roller.
The best use of a paint roller is obtained when only the nap of the roller is saturated with paint. When the sides of the roller are coated with paint, and when the ends of the mechanism holding the roller are coated with paint, paint tends to drip from the roller and large particles are propelled from it by centrifical force when the roller is operated. These sources of paint are a frequent cause of unsightly drips. A typical paint pan having this construction is described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,694,825.
Another major problem with pans described above is the limited capacity of the reservoir. Since the reservoir can contain only a small amount of paint, it is necessary to replenish the supply of paint in the reservoir frequently; which is annoying and time consuming, particularly when painting on a ladder or a scaffold. Another problem associated with pans of the prior art is that as the reservoir becomes fuller, the deck area becomes less extensive and it becomes more difficult to distribute paint evenly on the roller.
A number of paint pans have been made in the past with increased capacity in the reservoir. Although these pans solve the problem of having to frequently refill the reservoir, in general they aggravate the problem of applying paint only to the nap of the roller because the roller, in being dipped into a deeper reservoir, is generally submerged to a deeper level. Typical examples of paint pans with large reservoirs are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,110,921; 3,837,034; and 3,940,824.